I lived in Germany for the better half of a year, and the fashion part hit me hard. It was Germany, for chrissakes, not Italy or France, and I still felt like a schlub for wearing khakis and a polo shirt (and I was the kind of guy who wore those for special occasions). Sure, I was in the city, but even when I went into the country, people didn’t dress “American,” they dressed like farmers/bakers/butchers should – and it was still old-world charm all the way. And back in the city, I was getting shown up by god damn high-schoolers.

When I came back to the states, I had a wardrobe that was still a little under European par, but certainly enough to pass respectably through bars and restaurants over there. But after a week of being back, I realized I had to change back to the old ways – it was almost awkward to dress European over here. For one, while any man could walk down the street wearing a scarf over there (on a cold day, obviously), when I tried it back here I would get looks – and not good ones. Male friends would break balls, female friends would joke about metrosexuality. The thing that drove me crazy was the fact that unlike the million-and-one things that people are falsely attributing to societal expectations over here (gender roles, etc.), the idea that scarves (and other comparable clothing items) are feminine, gay, or metrosexual really IS a societal expectation – and why? It keeps your neck warm, and it looks good, goddamit. Then again, I wasn’t living in a cultural center at the time, but the point still stands.

So I went back to my American ways, and when I went back for a month that summer, I felt like a total schlub again.

Flip-flops are the ultimate “don’t give a fuck-hang loose” foot apparel. And i’ve noticed that when chicks walk around in them they adopt that “don’t give a fuck-hang loose” walk. Like they’re just throwing their legs out in front of them. They seem to let their hips follow and fall with no consideration towards comportment.

It makes me “fill up” a little bit, to be honest.

I also where flipflops all the time, because i truly don’t give a fuck.

But just be aware ladies. That “flip-flop-walk.” A not so subtle giveaway about your attitude about yourself.

You?re black, but you?re classy, handsome and well-mannered. If they could be the same as you, they wouldn?t have the problems they do.? I didn?t know if I should be offended or not. It?s like when I was growing up and white kids would tell me I was one of the ?good blacks? like it was supposed to be a compliment (hated that-ME TOO).
Good for you. For some reason I can see our fellow blk DA doing a buck dance and a shuffle foot if he received the same compliment.

over here, a guy like me who actually wears clothes that fit, takes a little risk with color selection and is willing to wear pointy shoes or shop at someplace other than the Gap is considered a top-notch dresser
You sound like my type of guy minus the Obama hate. I love a man who dresses well and takes chances. To bad you are already taken.
*stomps foot*
BTW,dressing well does not equal metro sexual.

I hate that I hate it I hate it. I have friends who will drive 2 blocks to the supermarket to pick up a roll of paper towels.

As you know, I think Americans who live in larger cities should consider walking and biking to save money.

Your observations were extremely accurate, indeed.

Erik

That was municipal elections, so it shouldn’t be a big deal, but somehow it still is. The big news was that a former “joke” party that finally ran on immigration criticism rose from 0.9 % to 5.4 %, nationally – of course the most in those areas with significant immigration and little in the rest, so the places that are supposed to be the shiny cosmopolitan examples of happy coexistence ended up with the nationalists as one of the local big parties.

So, everyone can see the writing on the wall. With the lack of a nationalist party the left has been happily dreaming that everything is fine, giving us the line that Finland is special, we’re avoiding the mistakes of others, blah blah, and now that was blown away. A minister blurted out something incredibly stupid about banning anti-immigration opinions from city councils, professors of sociology are threatening with protest suicide (well at least one did), you can guess it. After 5.4 % of the vote.

In my opinion there?s an another factor here too. In your country immigrants have to start working quite soon after arrival if they want to get food. In Sweden and Finland on the other hand, they can spend a lot of time sucking free money from the government. The taxation in these countries also punishes working severely, so you can guess which type we attract more, the working or the social case.

America is having similar problems with high taxation and immigrants sucking free money, but mainly in its big cities. If you go to places like New York City, you have lots of high taxation on the middle class but very little on the lower classes and the extremely rich are able to take advantage of tax loopholes.

But nothing beats California. In California, the amount of social services unskilled illegal Mexicans can receive is astounding. Driver’s licenses, health care, reduced college tuition, entitlements, and the list goes on. Check out these articles on “Mexifornia” by Victor David Hansonn (he also wrote a book by the same name):

http://www.city-journal.org/ht....._want.html
http://www.city-journal.org/ht.....ornia.html

First off, multiculturalims is quite new for them. It?s that ?family? vs. ?neighbor? dynamic I described earlier in the post. We in American have always had a ?neighbor? dynamic. And to make it worse, the ?neighbors? don?t want to learn any of the family?s rules or traditions or customs but want to take advantage of everything the family has to offer.

In my opinion there’s an another factor here too. In your country immigrants have to start working quite soon after arrival if they want to get food. In Sweden and Finland on the other hand, they can spend a lot of time sucking free money from the government. The taxation in these countries also punishes working severely, so you can guess which type we attract more, the working or the social case.

In my IT job there are some educated and well behaving muslim guys who work here because of easy immigration but their goal after gaining some experience is to move to US or UK, where they will be better paid and less taxed.

The conclusion doesn’t look good for my country.

As for flip-flops, I’m much more forgiving of them compared to you. While I have a strong high heel shoe fetish, I don’t think the flip flops are as offensive, and depending on the situation, they’re a lot sexier and better looking than the crappy ass flats and ballet shoes that I’ve seen women sport around New York. Regardless of my fetish, I’m in no position to go demand that women wear shoes that aren’t comfortable which is sad since while high heel stilettos can be sexy, feminine, and fashionable, these can inflict much short-term and long-term pain. Yeah, there are wedges and chunky heels, but they’re not much better in some cases, or they’re not as aesthetically pleasing. My mom and a number of older women that used to wear high heels in their youth can create a lasting impression.

I suspect American women are more likely to sport flip-flops due to our warmer and humid summers along with our lack of formality in our culture. Interestingly, where I work, the black girls are more likely to sport high heels than the white girls…

As for jaywalking, I had to keep that in mind when I was in the Bay Area. In some areas downtown, it was acceptable, but in the ‘burbs it was just an invitation to a ticket from a police officer…